


Transferring Heat

by Celestialheartmage



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-08-13 02:15:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 16,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7958428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celestialheartmage/pseuds/Celestialheartmage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy was just a normal college student in an honors program until a transfer student threatens to ruin her college experience. With her suite mates constantly try to bunk them together, what could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Lucy stared out the window. She honestly hated math class. It used to be so simple when she was younger, and then letters started getting involved and every paper she handed in looked like alphabet soup got spilled on it. She honestly was beginning to regret taking Calculus. She didn't even need it for her English major. Yet, here she was, taking the class that she barely understood last year in high school. She turned her attention back around the room to see how her classmates were faring. They looked to be in various states of attention. Some were asleep, some were furiously scribbling down everything that poured out of the professor's mouth, and others were also looking out the window. Lucy dropped her head down to her desk before feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket. She nonchalantly pulled her phone from her bag and checked the message. It was from Mira, her RA.

" _Hey, Lucy, there's a new transfer student moving into the honors housing. Do you think you could welcome them later? I would do it myself, but Laxus and I have to attend a meeting for RAs_." Lucy smirked at her phone before typing back.

" _Sure, no problem. What time are they coming?_ " Lucy tapped her pencil while waiting for a response. Her phone vibrated after a few seconds.

" _I think he's moving in at five. Dean Makarov said he didn't have a lot of things though_ ," Mira had responded.

" _Sounds easy enough. Don't worry, I've got it_ ," she typed back. With a sigh she turned her attention back to the clock. Her class got out at 4:45, and now it was 4:40. She tried to will the clock to move faster. She banged her head on the desk when the clock didn't move.

"You okay?" the person next to her asked. Lucy looked up at the raven-haired boy sitting to her right.

"I'm just done with math," Lucy groaned.

"How? This is so interesting. I didn't know that infinity to the zero power wasn't zero! Totally ruined the last 13 years of math," Gray teased. "So who texted you?"

"Mira," Lucy replied, "apparently we've got a transfer and she wants me to show them around since she and Laxus have an RA meeting."

"An actual meeting or a  _meeting_?" Gray asked with finger quotes around the second meeting.

"I don't know, and I don't really  _want_  to know," Lucy said with wide eyes. She knew that the two RAs on her floor were dating. Mira took care of the honors cluster of suites on the floor and Laxus took care of the regular people that hadn't made it their sworn duty in life to overachieve.

"So, what time is the new girl showing up?" Gray asked.

"It's a guy, and they're showing up at 5." Gray gave Lucy an incredulous look in response.

"What?" Lucy asked in confusion.

" _It's a guy_ ," Gray emphasized.

"So?"

"So? You  _know_  how Mira is when it comes to setting people up."

"That's not what this is. She doesn't even know what he looks like or what kind of person he is," Lucy defended.

"Mira knows all," Gray solemnly responded. Lucy was going to respond, but then the bell rang. Lucy threw her bag over her shoulder and picked up her textbook before heading to the door.

"Have fun meeting your future boyfriend," Gray teased.

Lucy stopped at the door and side stepped the swarm of students heading out before responding. "You're not heading back to the dorms? I thought this was your last class today," Lucy told him.

Gray sheepishly smiled, "There's a good in my marine biology class that wanted to study for a test we have on Monday."

"Suit yourself. I'll miss you at Friday game night," Lucy responded as she walked out the door. The other students had already cleared out minutes before. The only people still lingering were the professors and TAs. Lucy nodded to one of her classmates who was on the phone as she headed out into the chilly January air. She checked the time on her phone. She had ten minutes to make it back to the dorms before meeting the new guy. She wondered what he'd be like.

 


	2. The Transfer Student

Lucy made it back to the dorms with five minutes to spare. She dropped her stuff off in her room before walking back down to the main entrance of the building. She sat down on the steps and waited. After ten minutes she checked her phone to see if she had misread the time, but no, she had read it correctly. He was late. Lucy sighed in annoyance.  _This was just great_ , she sacrificed her Friday night for Mira and this is what she got for it. However, she wasn't about to say no to Mira either. Mira was normally really sweet, but she did have a demon side. They learned about that when Bixlow, an upperclassman, tried to ask out her younger sister who was a freshman. Mira did not take it well. Lucy shuddered at the memory. She checked her watch again. He was now twenty minutes late. Lucy was almost about to give up and go inside when she saw Lisanna walking with a person holding a map that effectively covered the upper half of their body.

"Here's Fairy Tail. That's the dorm you were looking for," Lisanna told him as she pointed towards the building.

"Hey, Lisanna," Lucy waved to the girl.

"Oh, hey, Lucy! I was just showing this new transfer student to the dorms. He got lost on the other side of campus. What are you doing out on the steps?" the white haired girl asked.

"Your sister asked me to welcome the new transfer student, but I guess you beat me to it," Lucy giggled as she walked down the stairs towards them.

"Well, I'll leave him in your hands then. I've got a date. Nice seeing you again,  _future husband,_ " Lisanna giggled.

"Don't call me that! We were like eight when that happened," the boy behind the map growled.

"Yeah, yeah. It's still good to see you," Lisanna responded as she walked away.

"You two know each other?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, we grew up in the same neighborhood," the boy explained as he finally folded up the map. Lucy sucked in a breath at the sight of him. He was handsome. His hair was shockingly pink, but it looked so soft. His arms were muscular and he had a tattoo on his upper arm, the same tattoo that everyone in the honors program got as part of their "initiation ritual." It had been a recent development in the past few years, Mira said it had some significance back home. He must have already had it before he came here then.

"What are ya staring at, weirdo?" the boy said as he grinned at her. "Some host  _you_  are."

"Hey, how am  _I_  the weirdo? You're the one with the pink hair," she teased back.

" _IT'S SALMON_."

"That's still a shade of pink," Lucy turned and started walking towards the steps, "come on…." She paused and realized she still didn't know his name.

"Natsu," he grumbled.

"Well, come on, Natsu. I'll show you to your dorm."

* * *

"The dorms are set up in suite style. You generally have five rooms off the same hallway that all share a bathroom. The RA looks over one cluster of suites. You're in my cluster, so you'll be with Gray, Erza, Levy, and I. Our RA is Mirajane. The cluster next to us is also an honors cluster. In that cluster you have Gajeel, Juvia, Jellal, Loke, and Aries. Their RA is Laxus. There are other honors clusters in other dorms, like in Sabertooth, but there are only two here. The rest of the dorms in Fairy Tail are for regular students," Lucy explained.

"Sounds cool," Natsu told her.

"This is your dorm," Lucy said as she opened the door to let him in. He threw one of his bags down on the bed and gently placed the other one on the floor.  _Weird_ , Lucy thought.

"Well, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Lucy replied as she went to leave the room. She was halfway out the door when she heard a soft meow.

"Was that a meow?" she asked.

"No!" Natsu replied with wide eyes. Another meow sounded and Natsu tried to cover it up with a cough, but failed.

"That was definitely a meow," Lucy replied as she walked back in the room and over to the bag that he'd placed carefully on the floor.

"Luigi, no!" Natsu tried to stop her, but it was too late. Lucy already had the bag unzipped and a blue furred kitten was peeking out through the opening. Natsu scrambled to close the door.

"It's so cute!" Lucy cooed as she picked up the kitten and cradled it to her chest. Natsu gave her a weird look.

" _What_?" Lucy asked defensively.

"Happy never lets anyone else touch him except me. That's why I had to bring him to school with me," Natsu explained. Lucy continued to pet the kitten.

"Well, he seems to like me," she teased.

"Luce, you have to promise me that you won't tell Mira about this. She can be really scary," Natsu shivered. Lucy sighed. He hadn't even been there half an hour and he was already making her break the rules.

"Fine. I won't tell a soul," she promised as she handed him the kitten.

"Thank you." He gave her a genuine smile. Lucy smiled a small smile in return as she left to go back to her dorm. She flopped down on her bed and looked up at the ceiling. The new transfer student was definitely going to be interesting.

 


	3. A Rude Awakening

Lucy woke up the next morning to banging on her door. She opened her eyes and looked at the clock next to her bed.  _Seven in the morning_. Everyone in the cluster knew not to wake her before ten on her weekend off. She groaned as she opened the door. Natsu's hand was mid-knock on the other side of the door.

"Natsu, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked as she opened the door wider. She tried to run her fingers through her hair to smooth it out, but her hand got stuck in the tangles caused by sleep.

"You said I could come to you whenever I needed something," he told her.

"Right… What do you need?" Lucy asked as she stifled a yawn.

"Someone to go to breakfast with," Natsu told her with a smile. Lucy resisted the urge to throttle him.

" _It's so early,_ " she whined.

"It's already seven," Natsu responded.

"Exactly. I don't wake up until ten on Saturdays," Lucy said as she rubbed her eyes.

"Can't ya make an exception just this once? I was hoping to get a tour of the town around the college and who better to do it with than my lovely cluster mate who offered to be there whenever I needed," Natsu asked with puppy dog eyes.

Lucy sighed, "Okay." She couldn't say no to that face.

"Great! Let's go," Natsu said as he grabbed her hand.

"Natsu, wait," he pulled her hand out of his.

"What?"

Lucy looked down at her blue plaid sweatpants and university shirt. "Can I get a shower and put clothes on first?" Lucy smirked.

"Oh… Yeah. I'll be in my room. Swing by when you're ready," Natsu told her before walking back towards his dorm room. Lucy got her towel and shower things before walking off towards the bathroom. She started the water and let a layer of steam cover the mirror before stepping under the cascading stream. Lucy let the water wash away the remnants of her sleep. Suddenly, she got the urge to hum. Humming turned to singing until she was belting the song in the shower.

"And I say hey, yeah, yeah, yeah yay. Hey, yay, yay. I said hey, what's goin' on?" She sang as she shut the water off. She put her shower things back in her back before wrapping her towel around her body and heading off towards her room. She was almost towards her door when she heard someone call out to her.

"Luigi, were you channeling your inner He-Man?" Natsu teased. The door to his room was open. Lucy's face went bright red. She was mortified.

"You heard that?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Heard what? You mean the 'Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yay'? Then yes, I heard," Natsu grinned at her, "Nice towel, by the way." Lucy looked down and let out a small squeak as she realized she still wasn't dressed. She ran into her dorm and closed it behind her. She sighed.

"Way to go, Lucy. Now he must really think you're weird," she said to herself.

* * *

Lucy got dressed in a tank top and skirt before putting on some makeup and tying her hair off to the side. After giving herself a final check, Lucy exited the room and went across the hall. Natsu was playing with Happy on his bed. Lucy leaned against the doorframe.

"You know, you shouldn't just keep your cat out in the open. Mira will definitely find out that way," Lucy advised. Natsu looked up from the cat in his lap and sucked in a breath. She looked pretty, and she was his for the day.

"You're probably right," Natsu said as he placed the kitten on the side of him. He never once took his eyes off her. He stood up and walked over to her.

"Well, ready to go get breakfast?" he asked her as they walked out of his room and he locked the door.

They made their way down to the cafeteria where Natsu proceeded to put at least one of everything on his plate.

"I sure hope you picked the unlimited meal plan," Lucy said as her eyes went wide at all the food on his plate.

"What's a meal plan?" Natsu asked with a mouthful of eggs. Lucy shook her head at him as she ate a spoonful of cereal.

"So, do you have anywhere specific you want to go? I mean, Magnolia is a pretty cool town, and although the University of Magnolia takes up most of town, it isn't the whole town," Lucy explained.

"I figured you could show me all of your favorite places," Natsu said as he put his arms behind his head.

"Alright, well, I'm ready when you are," Lucy told him as she put her cereal bowl back on the table. She had picked it up to finish drinking the milk in the bowl. She had a milk mustache.

"Um, Luce?"

"Yeah?"

"You gotta little somethin' right… there," Natsu said as he leaned over and wiped his thumb across her upper lip. Lucy blushed at the sudden touch.

"T-thanks," she stammered.

"No problem," he smiled, "Are you ready to go?"

"Ready when you are," she smiled back at him.

 


	4. Tour de Tail

"We're going to start with the important buildings on campus before we head off campus. It's early enough that you should get a pretty decent tour today," Lucy said as she walked down the stairs outside the cafeteria.

"Sounds good to me. Lead the way, Luce," Natsu told her as he slid down the rail to the bottom. Lucy blushed. Since when did he have a nickname for her?

* * *

Lucy led him around the different educational buildings before stopping in front of one particularly large building.

"What's this place?" Natsu asked as he looked up at it.

"This is called the guildhall," Lucy explained, "It's basically like a commons for all the honors students, mainly because we refer to the honors students as being in guilds. The different "guilds" get their names from the dorms they're in. For example, we're in the Fairy Tail guild."

"That's so cool. So guild mates are kind of like a family then?" Natsu asked trying to understand.

"Exactly. A really,  _really_  dysfunctional family," Lucy chuckled.

"We'll have to come back here later. I want to see the rest of the city," Natsu told her. Lucy nodded and set off to show him all that Magnolia had to offer.

* * *

Lucy showed Natsu the important buildings on the outskirts of campus, the open markets, and the various off campus hangouts before they stopped for lunch. Lucy was once again amazed at how much food Natsu could eat.

"So, why'd you apply to Magnolia University halfway through the year?" Lucy asked.

"I just wasn't feeling it anywhere else," Natsu shrugged as he took a bite of his hot wings.

"Fair enough. So what are you majoring in?" Lucy asked as she took a sip of her milkshake.

"I'm majoring in animation and special effects, and minoring in pyrotechnics," Natsu told her.

"That's an…odd combination," she commented.

"I've always been into pyrotechnics as a kid, so that was a no brainer. As for animation and special effects, I like to draw. I have a comic strip that I started where Happy is this thing called an exceed so he has wings," Natsu said, "What are you majoring in?"

"I'm an English major, but I'm minoring in psychology," Lucy told him.

" _That's an odd combination_ ," Natsu teased.

"Well, I've always loved writing, so that's the English part. As for the psychology, one it's always a good thing because then you can relate to others and you can always write characterizations accurately because you understand people. The other reason is because I like being able to help people," Lucy explained.

"Well, from what I can tell, you're good at helping people. I mean, you have been helping me since I got here," Natsu told her as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Oh, and I'm far from being done with that," she told him as she got up, "I haven't even shown you the best part yet."

"Alright, I'm all fired up now," he said as he followed her.

* * *

They'd been walking for a while, passing through the city, when Natsu began to get impatient.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"You'll see," was all she said. She led him up a rocky hill to the top before turning to show him the view.

"You can see the whole town from here," she told him.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Natsu said.

"So, since you can see everything from up here, is there any place you want me to show you on the way back?" she asked.

"Yeah," Natsu said thinking, "that park." He pointed to the group of trees that seemed almost out of place amongst the rest of the buildings.

"Alright," Lucy said as she started back down the path they came.

* * *

They finally made their way down to the park he had pointed to.

"Woah! The trees are huge," Natsu said as he looked around.

"Yeah, they are pretty big, aren't they?" Lucy agreed as she looked up.

"Can you imagine Happy getting stuck in one of those?" Natsu joked.

Lucy laughed, "Yeah, that'd be terrible." Lucy paused to take in the sky, " It looks like the sun's starting to set. We should probably get back. It's about time you get introduced to the others."

"Okay," Natsu responded.

* * *

They headed back along the waterway, with Lucy walking on the wall next to the river.

"Luce, you're going to fall in."

"No, I'm not. I do this all the time."

"Luce, you're not exactly the most graceful person."

"What do you mean?"

"You tripped like five times going up to the top of that mountain hill thing earlier."

" _IT WAS STEEP_!"

"But still."

Lucy balled her hands into fists and walked faster, "You know what, find your own way home."

"Aw, Luce, don't be like that!" Natsu called after her. She kept going so Natsu ran to catch up.

"Lucy, I'm sorry if I offended you. I was just looking out for you. You are my nakama now," he told her. Lucy sighed and slowed down.

" _Fine_. Apology accepted," Lucy told him as she stepped off the wall. They walked in peaceful silence back to the dorms.

 


	5. Truth or Dare

By the time they reached the dorms it was time for dinner.

"Hey, Natsu, I just want to change into something warmer and then I'll take you back to the guildhall for dinner, okay?" Lucy said as she walked back into her room.

"Okay. I have to feed Happy anyways," Natsu told her as he split off towards his room.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Natsu was walking into Lucy's dorm. Lucy turned towards the door when she heard it open, however she was still in her underwear.

"NATSU! YOU CAN'T JUST BARGE IN HERE! AT LEAST KNOCK FIRST," She yelled before kicking him in the face.

"It's not like it's anything great," Natsu replied as he rubbed his face.

"You jerk! At least turn around," she grumbled. Natsu sighed and turned around. He heard her zip up her jeans before he got tapped on the shoulder.

"I'm all set now," Lucy blushed as she looked down and walked past him. They walked together towards the guildhall.

* * *

"Lucy! We missed you at game night last night," Levy said walking up towards the blonde.

"Yeah, who's the pink haired hottie?" Cana asked as she sauntered over towards them.

"This is Natsu, he's the new transfer in our cluster," Lucy introduced. She then took his hand and led him over towards the rest of the guild mates. "Let me introduce you to everyone."

"Okay," Natsu smiled.

"Everyone, this is Natsu. Natsu, this is Fairy Tail," Lucy told him as she sat down next to Gray.

"So  _YOU'RE_  the one that stole all the hot water last night," Gray accused.

"Gray, you like cold showers anyway," Lucy pointed out.

"But it'd be  _nice_  to have the option if I wanted one," Gray countered, "and  _flame brai_ n over there took that from me."

"Listen,  _Popsicle_ , I like my shower scalding and that's not gonna change anytime soon. If ya don't like it, then change your shower time," Natsu said.

" _I was here first!"_  The boys were now standing in front of each other with their hands balled into fists.

"Oh yeah? Well, fight me!" And suddenly those fists were being thrown.

" _I know our newest cluster mate and Gray are not fighting,_ " a voice came.

"Of course not, Erza," the two men froze and hugged each other.

"Natsu, it's been a long time," Erza told him as the red head came to a stop in front of them.

"You guys know each other?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"Natsu, Erza, and I also grew up in the same town as the Strauss siblings," Gray explained, "I was hoping to escape flame ass for college, but I guess you can't always get what you want."

"Tell me about it," Natsu grumbled.

"Do you guys want to go off into our common room?" Levy asked.

"Common room?" Natsu questioned as he looked at Lucy.

"Every 'guild' has a common room that's specifically for them. This main area is for everyone. Even though it's common room as in singular, it's really more like common rooms plural since each 'common room' is made up of two or three rooms connected to each other. Each room serves a different purpose that's dictated by that guild," Lucy explained.

"So are we gonna go or not?" Natsu asked. With a nod they all got up and moved off towards their private quarter of the guildhall.

* * *

"Alright, since we're not out in the open, how about we play a harmless game?" Cana asked them.

"You're games are never harmless," Lucy blanched.

"Nonsense, I always love Cana's games," Erza declared.

"Yeah, let's play," Levy agreed.

"Ghihi, Shrimp, are you sure you want to?" a voice asked.

"Gajeel! Where did you come from?" Levy asked.

"Our cluster. We were gonna have a movie night, but Juvia and Loke couldn't agree on the movie. Jellal thought we should just come here instead," he told her.

"Jellal?" Erza repeated before looking around the room. When she saw the blue haired boy she ran over to him.

"Erza, how are you?" he asked awkwardly.

"I'm good," she replied while twirling her hair around her finger.

"STOP ACTING SO AWKWARD. YOU ALREADY DATE," Cana yelled at them. Jellal chuckled and wrapped his arm around Erza causing her to blush and smile as she cuddled into him.

"Shall we go join the game with the others?" he asked her. She nodded and let him lead them back over to the couches where the others were seated.

"So… what are we playing?" Lucy asked.

"Truth or Dare," Cana said with a devilish grin. A collective groan went up among the masses.

"Juvia thinks it'll be fun," Juvia declared as she plopped down next to Gray. Gray visibly stiffened at the close proximity.

"Juvia, what are you doing here?" Gray asked.

"Oh, Gray-sama, our cluster had a bad movie night so we came here instead. Isn't it great?" she asked as she stared at him lovingly.

"T-totally," Gray answered.

"So who wants to go first?" Cana asked, surveying the others to pick her first victim.

"I wanna go!" Natsu said excitedly.

"Alright….Levy," Cana decided. Natsu pouted. "Truth or Dare?" Cana asked.

"Truth," Levy decided.

"Okay. If you had to date someone in Fairy Tail, who would it be and why?" Cana asked. Levy started to turn red.

"I h-haven't really thought about it," Levy stammered as she looked everywhere but at Gajeel.

" _That's not an answer_ ," Cana told her.

"I-if I had to pick… Gajeel. Becausehe'sreallysweetandkindacuteandyeah," Levy rushed out. Gajeel turned pink from his place next to her.

"Really, Shrimp?" Gajeel asked bewildered. Levy just nodded.

"Lucy, truth or dare?" Levy asked with her confidence.

"You guys always give me crap when I pick truth, so dare," Lucy said. Levy's eyes took on a devious glint.

"I dare you to spend ten minutes in Fairy Ouran with Natsu," Levy proudly stated.

"What's Fairy Ouran?" Natsu asked.

"Fairy Ouran is the guild's version of a make out closet. It's called Fairy Ouran because of the theme song from Ouran High School Host Club. It goes 'kiss kiss fall in love.' The rumor is that if you kiss someone in that closet then you'll end up with them," Erza explained.

"Gray-sama, maybe you should go into Fairy Ouran with Juvia," Juvia suggested.

"Like hell I would!" Gray grumbled.

"Well, Lucy, a dare's a dare," Cana pushed.

"Fine," Lucy replied as she nervously took Natsu's hand and led him towards the closet. She closed the door behind them.

* * *

"Where's the light switch?" Natsu asked.

"There isn't one."

"Good thing I have this then," Natsu responded as he flipped out a lighter and ignited it.

"Why do you have a lighter?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"Sometimes I eat fire when I'm bored."

_"You WHAT?"_

"Eat fire when I'm bored. Wanna see?"

"S-sure," Lucy said nervously, "are you sure that's safe though?"

"Of course! My dad taught me how to do it. I've been doing it for years." Lucy watched in fascination as Natsu took the lighter up to his mouth and licked the flame.

"It doesn't hurt?" Lucy asked in awe.

"Not anymore."

"Wow, that's so cool!"

"Thanks," Natsu replied with a grin. Lucy slowly slid down the wall of the closet. Natsu soon followed her.

"You don't have to kiss me or anything, just to let you know," Lucy told him.

"Good. I mean, we just met. Besides, why would I want to be stuck with you for the rest of my life," Natsu teased.

"Hey!" Lucy hit him in the chest.

"I'm kidding. You're the closest thing I have to a best friend after Happy here. I know we've only known each other for two days, but I can see us being good friends in the future. Besides, it's like you said, we're nakama. You're family. I wouldn't want to get rid of you now," Natsu told her. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Do you want to get out of here after this?" Natsu asked her.

"And do what?"

"Well, I figured we could go back to my room and watch something with Happy. I want to show you this show, but I don't know if you'll like it," Natsu replied looking down at his feet.

"I'm up for anything other than more truth or dare. Cana's been relentless in trying to get me a boyfriend, and apparently she's got Levy in on it," Lucy shivered.

"It's only like what, March of your freshman year? Not everyone needs a boyfriend right away. I do see why they'd worry about you though," Natsu told her.

"HEY!"

"I'm only teasin' ya, Luce," Natsu said as he ran his hand through his hair.

"TIMES UP!" Cana and Levy shouted as they opened the door. Lucy shielded her eyes from the sudden light pouring in.

"Aw, you guys didn't do anything. How boring," Cana pouted. Natsu got up and offered his hand to Lucy to help pull her up. He pulled her up too fast and she ended up crashing into his chest so he slipped his arm around her waist to steady her.

"I think I've had enough adventures for one day, if you don't mind, I'm stealin' Luce so I don't get lost on my way back to the dorms. I mean, I am new here," Natsu sheepishly told them as he led Lucy out of the guildhall.

"Are you ready for me to change your life?" Natsu asked as he ran towards the dorms, pulling Lucy by the hand behind him.

"I think you already have," Lucy murmured into the wind.

 


	6. Late Night TV

Natsu dragged Lucy into their dorm building and up the stairs.

"Why are we still running?" Lucy asked while trying to catch her breath on one of the landings in the stairway.

"We're burnin' daylight here!" Natsu replied.

"Natsu, the sun already set. _Daylight has been burned a while ago_ ," Lucy moaned as she stumbled up the stairs after him.

"Yes, but we only have one more day to the weekend and there are so many parts to the thing that I'm gonna show ya that's gonna change your life, so come on!" Natsu told her as he took her hand again and pulled her along. They eventually made it to their cluster.

"Can I at least change into something comfortable first?" Lucy asked as she looked over at her door.

"Sure, I have to set it up anyways," Natsu said as he walked into his room.

* * *

Lucy sighed and unlocked her door. After walking inside she paused to lock her door, remembering the events of that morning. She changed into a university t-shirt and matching sweatpants before sliding on her slippers and padding over to Natsu's room.

She leaned forward to knock on the door before settling back down on her heels.

"Door's open," Natsu called from inside. Lucy walked in to see a shirtless Natsu in pajama pants trying to connect his laptop to a television in the corner.

"Want some help?" Lucy offered as she walked over to him. She looked down to hide her blush at his shirtless state.

"I'm just tryin' to connect the thing to this thing to my laptop," Natsu told her. Lucy shook her head in response and easily connected the laptop.

" _How'd you do that?_ " Natsu asked in awe.

"Levy and I like to watch Fruits Basket a lot, however it's not on Netflix so we have to connect her laptop to the TV to watch it on a big screen," Lucy explained as she plopped down on his bed. Happy immediately crawled into her lap and started purring.

"I still think it's weird that he likes ya," Natsu said with a shake of the head.

_"How is it weird?"_

"Don't get all offended. I mean, you're just a weirdo, so of course it's weird that he likes ya. Especially since he doesn't like anyone other than me." Natsu trailed his eyes up from her feet to her face.

" _And me_." Lucy returned his stare.

" _And you_." They held each other's gaze for another few moments before Lucy started to blush and looked down at Happy for a distraction.

Natsu cleared his throat, "So, are you ready for me to change your life?"

"You talk a big game. What happens if it doesn't change my life?" Lucy teased.

"We won't have to find out," Natsu said as he started typing on his laptop.

"What are we watching?"

"You'll see."

After a couple of seconds, Natsu found what he was looking for. He clicked the link and made the video full-screen. He settled down on the bed next to Lucy after relocating his pillows so that they could prop themselves back against them. Natsu's eyes were glued to the screen as the episode started. Lucy found it cute how enthralled he was, that is until she started really paying attention to the screen as well.

"What's this called?" she asked in awe as the theme song started to play.

"Fairy Tail." They sat in silence for the rest of the episode.

* * *

Then, it finished at the video loaded for the next episode.

"Can we watch another episode?" Lucy asked as she turned to look at him.

"Of course," Natsu smirked at her. He didn't think she'd like it this much.

Suddenly, something dawned on her.

"Say, Natsu," she started.

"Hmmm?" He asked as he got the next episode set up.

"Did you name Happy after the cat in Fairy Tail?"

"I…um…yeah? I mean he just looks like a Happy," Natsu said while scratching his neck.

Lucy chuckled. "Haru and Elie seem cool. I kind of ship them," she sighed dreamily, "how many episodes are there?"

"Over 200. The manga has over 400 chapters," Natsu explained.

"Wait a minute. I knew this felt familiar. I'll be right back," Lucy said as she got up and ran to her dorm. She quickly found what she was looking for and came back.

"Oh hey, you have volume one?" Natsu asked as he took the book from her hands.

"Yeah, I bought it at the last convention I went to with Levy. It looked interesting, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I guess I'll have to start," Lucy grinned.

"Well, luckily for you I happen to own all the volumes," Natsu said as he showed her his shelf of manga.

"No  _you don't_ ," Lucy pointed out, "you're missing the first one." She slid her copy of volume one in the space where his was missing.

"Well, I guess my collection's complete now," Natsu said smiling at her.

"I guess so," Lucy blushed.

"So, as co-owners of a manga collection, it's my duty to make sure you read all of them. I'll start you on a volume a day," Natsu joked.

"Oh, please. I bet you I could finish them in a week."

"Two.  _Minimum_."

" _One_."

" _Want to bet?_ "

"Oh, you're on," Lucy said with a fire in her eyes, "I'm all fired up now!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Natsu whined. Lucy giggled.

"Well, are you going to press play on the episode or not?" Lucy whined.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," Natsu replied as he pressed start. He went back to sitting on his bed and leaned against the pillows.

"You're lucky. I can't lean back because I'm too short," Lucy pouted. Natsu sighed and rolled his eyes before pulling her into his lap.

"Lean on me then," he said as he rested his head on her shoulder to watch the screen. Lucy was glad he couldn't see her face because she was pretty sure it was bright red. Yet, Natsu didn't seem at all affected by it. She just hoped he couldn't hear the slight race of her heart. She sighed and settled into him to watch the episode.

* * *

Natsu was engrossed in watching the screen, but then Lucy's hair got in the way.

"Hey, Luce-" he started to complain but stopped when he noticed she was sleeping. With a sigh he slid her off his lap before turning off the TV. He checked the clock to see that it was almost midnight. Carefully, he slipped his arms under her to pick her up and began to carry her back to her room. He gently laid her down on her own bed before slipping off her slippers and tucking her in.

"Night, Luce," he whispered as he pushed a stray hair from her sleeping face. Quietly, he crept back into the hall and closed the door to her dorm behind him.

" _So that's why you left early?_  Way to go flame brain, you sure work fast," Gray teased.

"It's not what you think. She fell asleep on me while we were watching TV so I was just putting her to bed," Natsu whispered as he went back to his dorm. Normally, he would've punched Gray right then and there, but Lucy was sleeping and he didn't want to wake her up since he's the main reason she was tired. Natsu collapsed on his bed and turned over to look at his manga collection. It was nice to see it be complete again.

 


	7. Cat Burglar

Lucy woke the next morning to find herself in her bed. However, she didn't remember how she got there.

"What was I doing before I fell asleep?" she wondered aloud as she stretched. Then it hit her. She had been watching that anime with Natsu, the one for the manga that she was going to finish in a week. A smirk crossed Lucy's face. She might as well get started on it. It's not like she had homework right now. Well, she did, but Monday was a holiday so she didn't have to really start it until tomorrow. Lucy looked over at the clock and saw that it was seven am.

"Damn, I'm up early. Well, let's go read some manga," Lucy said as she swung her legs off the bed and stretched. She slipped on her slippers and padded over to Natsu's door. She was going to knock, but after hearing a snore come from inside she thought better of it and just slipped the door open. She didn't want to wake him. She gently closed the door behind her and tiptoed over to the shelf. Bending over, she fingered the volumes, trying to decide how many to take this time. There were 55 volumes in total. Lucy did the math, that'd be like 8 volumes a day, but she wanted to impress him. Lucy was in the middle of figuring out how many to borrow when she felt something brush against her leg.

"Eep!" she let out a small squeal before noticing it was just Happy. She let out a breath of relief and looked over to see if she woke Natsu. Nope, he was still out. Lucy took ten volumes and headed towards the door. Happy crawled after her.

"No, Happy, you have to stay here," Lucy whispered. She took another step. Happy followed.

"No, Happy,  _stay_ ," Lucy begged. She walked to the door. As she reached for the handle, the cat brushed up against her leg.

Lucy let out a sigh, " _Fine_. Natsu wouldn't mind if I borrowed you for a bit, maybe." Lucy leaned down and scooped up the little kitten with one hand and plopped him on her shoulder before opening the door. She peeked out in the hallway to make sure she was alone before running across the hall into her dorm. She closed the door with her foot before plopping Happy and the books on her bed.

"Alright," Lucy said as she got comfortable on her bed, "let's get this started." She picked up volume one and cracked it open.

* * *

"Mmm," Natsu groaned as he opened his eyes. He stretched before rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed. Then, he looked over at the clock. It read 10:30.

"Damn, I should've fed Happy half an hour ago. I never sleep this late. Sorry, little buddy," Natsu said as he got up and put the cat food out. However, no cat came.

"Happy? Where are ya?" He asked, "Normally he's here by the time I finish opening the bag." Natsu looked under his bed and in various places that a cat could hide in, but found nothing. Panic started to set in.

"HAPPY?" He called out.

"NO, I'M NOT," a voice from the other side of the wall came, "SHUT UP, FLAME BRAIN, I'M TRYING TO WRITE A PAPER."

Natsu growled, but knew he couldn't say anything back or else he'd risk someone learning about Happy. No, Natsu needed a better option.

"Lucy would know what to do," Natsu said as he went over to her door. He didn't even stop to notice he was just in his boxers.

* * *

Lucy heard a knock at the door. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and looked at the cat sitting in her lap. "I guess he noticed you were gone," she said as she scratched the kitten.

"Door's open," she said in a slightly louder voice. Natsu wasted no time opening the door and walking in and closing it behind him to make sure no one heard him. He then started pacing up and down her room trying to collect his thoughts.

"Lucy! Happy's missing! I need you to help me make flyers and put them up around campus. He's so tiny! I can't believe it. I overslept and when I got up to feed him, he was just gone! I don't know what to do, you gotta help me," Natsu finished. He was still pacing, running his hands through his bedhead, looking as distraught as he felt. Lucy wanted to laugh at how cute he looked, worried about his cat, but then she noticed he was only in his underwear. Lucy could feel a blush creep up her cheeks.

"Natsu, Happy is fine," she reassured him as she put the book down. She picked up the cat and walked over to her pacing clustermate.

"How do you know?" Natsu whined.

"Natsu, look at me," she chuckled. Natsu turned to look at the blonde for the first time since entering her room. Her hair was in a ponytail, but strands fell around her face. Her glasses enhanced her eyes, making them look a little bit bigger than normal. She looked cute, and there in her hands was a small blue cat.

" _Happy_? But how?" Natsu asked.

"I snuck over to borrow Fairy Tail," Lucy said as she pointed back to the books strewn across her bed, "you were still sleeping and Happy was insistent on following me, so I kind of borrowed him. He was the perfect reading buddy. Right, Happy?" She nuzzled her nose against the cats, giving him one last hug before returning him to Natsu. "I'm sorry for not asking first, but you looked so peaceful."

"It's okay, Luce. You can borrow him whenever, I guess. I mean, he likes ya. I wouldn't want to keep him from his friends," Natsu said as he pet the cat before placing him down on the floor, "so how far have you gotten?" He walked over and sat on the bed to see which volumes she had borrowed.

"I've only gotten up to volume 9," she told him as she went to walk over. However, Happy had other plans. She didn't see him on the ground and tripped over the small cat. It all happened in slow motion for her. One second, she was upright. The next, she was straddling Natsu on her bed, his arms wrapped around her waist from when he caught her. Natsu looked up at Lucy with wide eyes and swallowed.

"Luce, do you mind? You're kinda heavy," he told her.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT?" She yelled at him as she crawled off him. She sat down next to him and crossed her arms.

"No, Luce, you're not fat. I'm just teasin'," he said as he ruffled her hair, "I'm gonna go take a shower. Have fun with Happy." Lucy turned her attention to the cat wrapping itself around her foot, missing Natsu readjusting himself before getting up and leaving her dorm.

"Do you always visit girls in your boxers, hothead?" Gray called as he walked out of the shower.

"Shut it,  _Ice Ass_ ," Natsu said as he crossed to his dorm. He grabbed his stuff and went to shower.


	8. Shower Jam Sessions

Lucy continued playing with Happy after finishing the rest of volumes nine and ten. Eventually, she decided she should take her shower, too. She stacked the volumes in her arms with Happy on top of them. She then went to go return the books to Natsu's dorm. However, she made a fatal mistake and didn't check the hall before crossing. She made it halfway across the hall before a voice stopped her.

"Hey Lucy, I thought you said the new student  _wasn't_  going to be your boyfriend," Gray teased from his doorway. Lucy turned slightly to keep Happy from his view. The kitten looked up at her and tilted his head at the sudden jolt.

"He's not my boyfriend. I'm just borrowing some books," Lucy replied.

" _Sure_ ," Gray smirked before suddenly sneezing.

"Bless you," Lucy told him. However, Gray continued to sneeze.

"You know, allergy season isn't supposed to be for another month," she teased.

"I don't have allergies. Except to cats, but there aren't any cats here so this doesn't make sense. Ah-Ah-CHOO! Whatever, I think I'm going to go take my medicine anyways," Gray sniffed before returning to his room. As his door closed, the door to the bathroom opened and Natsu walked out. His wet hair still stuck up in various places and his shirt slightly clung to his body. Lucy sucked in a breath. Natsu smiled at her, but then his eyes widened as he saw Happy in her arms.

"Luce, what are you doing in the hall?" Natsu whispered as he motioned to the cat on her books. He quickly opened his door and ushered them into his room.

* * *

"Did anyone see him?" Natsu asked as he put Happy on his bed and took the books from her arms.

"Gray almost did, but I turned before he could. He's allergic to cats, by the way," Lucy informed him.

Natsu grinned, "I know. He's been sneezing  _a lot_  lately."

"Natsu, you're terrible," Lucy giggled, "well, I'm going to go take my shower. I'll be back for a couple of volumes after."

"Are you going to sing 'What's Going On?' in the shower again?" Natsu teased.

 _"That was one time_!" Lucy defended as she walked out of the room. Natsu chuckled at her reaction as he went to lay on his bed. Happy crawled onto his chest and put his paw on Natsu's nose. Natsu's nose crinkled at the sudden onslaught of roses flooded his senses. It took him a second to realize what he was smelling.  _Lucy_. Happy smelled exactly like Lucy. It was almost intoxicating, but then he realized he was smelling a cat's paw and that was just weird. Natsu picked up the cat and placed him down by his food bowl.

"Ya missed breakfast, buddy! I hope your play date with Lucy was worth it," he said. The cat purred in response as it walked over and began eating. Natsu just shook his head and went over to the shelves and began putting the manga volumes back. She'd read ten in only a couple of hours and it was only day one. Maybe he would lose the bet. Lucy seemed to be full of surprises, that's for sure. However, Natsu definitely wasn't complaining. He was just curious to see how she'd surprise him next.

* * *

Lucy turned on the water and let the steam fog up the mirror as she stripped herself of her pajamas.

"'Are you going to sing 'What's going on?' again'," Lucy mocked, "I'll sing what I want." Lucy pulled out her phone and opened her Pandora app. She dried the inside of the sink before placing her phone in it to amplify the sound so she could hear it over the water. It was well into the morning, so she knew all her clustermates were either up or out and about so she didn't have to worry about being too loud. She stepped into the shower as the first song came on. It was her "Hamilton" station, however it played other showtunes as well.

"Yes! I  _love_  'Dead Girl Walking,'" Lucy excitedly chirped before singing along. The song was mostly a solo, but there were some parts where a guy sang. However, Lucy wasn't prepared for another voice to sing the guy part. Lucy shrieked before peeking her head out of the shower.

"NATSU! You can't just walk into the bathroom when someone else is taking a shower!" Lucy chastised.

"But Luce, I forgot my toothbrush," Natsu responded. The Pandora station switched to 'One Knight' from Wonderland. Natsu started to hum along.

 _"Get your toothbrush and get out_ ," Lucy told him from the shower.

"But I love this song!" Natsu whined.

"Then listen to it in  _your_   _room_!" Lucy yelled before throwing her shampoo bottle at him.

"Luce, have you washed your hair yet?"

"No, which is why I'm trying to get you to leave so I can finish my shower."

"Well, you just threw your shampoo at me. So, here, take your shampoo back and I'll leave," Natsu said as he picked up the shampoo bottle and held it up to the end of the curtain.

"Thanks…" Lucy awkwardly said as she accepted the shampoo.

"No problem," he replied. Lucy held her breath as she heard the door click close. She let out a breath of relief before turning back to her shower.

"You can't go in there, Popsicle Princess, Lucy is taking a shower!" She heard Natsu yell from outside.

"You were just in there!" She heard Gray call back.

"So?" She heard Natsu reply before a door closed. Lucy shook her head as she heard a knock on the door.

 _"Totally not dating_ , right?" Gray called through the door.

"Shut up!"


	9. Girl Talk

Lucy made it back to her dorm without any problems. She got dressed and was about to head out for the cafeteria to get breakfast when she ran into her other clustermate, Levy.

"Hey, Lu-chan, are you heading to the caf?" she asked.

"Yeah, want to walk with me?" Lucy asked.

"Sure. I had some things to ask you about anyway," Levy replied as she fell into step with Lucy.

"What's up?" Lucy asked her friend.

"So… You and Natsu have gotten close since he showed up. It's almost like you're instant best friends. Should I be worried that he's replacing me?" She teased.

"Never! You know you're my number one gal pal," Lucy joked.

"You have to admit, he  _is_  kind of hot," Levy replied.

"Who? Natsu?" Lucy asked. She found her mind drifting towards how he looked in her room that morning clad only in his boxers. She wouldn't mind seeing him like that more often now that she thought about it. " _Yeah_ , he is."

"Do you think you'll end up liking him?" Levy asked.

"Well, yeah, he's a very likable person," Lucy said completely oblivious.

"That's not what I meant, Lu-chan."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think you'll fall for him?" Levy asked. Levy could already see the sparks of something interesting at play between the two of them. They'd been basically inseparable since they'd met last week. She and Cana made a bet that they'd be dating by the end of the semester.

"I don't know about  _that_ , Levy," Lucy said, "I do see a beautiful friendship with him, though." Lucy hadn't felt this relaxed with someone in a long time. Being with Natsu just felt like being at home. He was comfortable to be with, even when he did have problems respecting boundaries.

"Is it true that you two showered together this morning?" Levy asked with a grin.

"WHAT? NO! THAT IS DEFINITELY  _NOT_  TRUE," Lucy screeched, " He forgot his toothbrush and I forgot to lock the door so he walked in to get it."

"And that's  _all_  that happened?" Levy asked suspiciously.

"That is  _all_  that happened," Lucy deadpanned.

"Darn. I owe Gray lunch now," Levy sighed.

"You two were betting on me and Natsu?" Lucy asked.

" _Natsu and I,_ " Levy corrected, " and yes, we were."

"Why?" Lucy asked dumbfounded.

"For kicks," Levy responded. She knew her friend was too oblivious to see why people thought they were dating.

"How's Gajeel?" Lucy asked to switch the subject.

"He's good. We're going on a date later," Levy replied.

"Ooooh, what are you two doing?"

"We're going to see  _Ghostbusters_. I heard it's really good. Maybe you and Natsu could come, too," Levy suggested with a waggle of her eyebrows.

"Wouldn't that be more like a double-date?" Lucy asked in confusion.

"Psh,  _no_ ," Levy replied, "just two friends going to the movies. Ask Natsu at breakfast. I'm sure he'll say yes."

* * *

"Well, okay," Lucy replied as they walked through the doors to the cafeteria. The smell of breakfast food was overwhelming as it hit Lucy's nose. Mondays were French toast days, however they also had the standard eggs as well as yogurt and cereal. Lucy had a love/hate relationship with the cafeteria. She never knew what to get for food. As she was trying to figure out what she wanted for breakfast, she heard someone call out her name. She turned towards the source of the sound to find a mountain of dishes on a table.

"Natsu?" Lucy asked. Had he eaten all of that by himself?

"Lucy! Are you going to get food? I'll go with you," he offered.

"Are you still hungry?" Lucy asked incredulously.

"A little bit," Natsu replied honestly as they grabbed their plates and got in line.

"What tastes good?" Lucy asked him since he'd apparently tried everything the cafeteria had on the menu that day.

"French toast is the best, hands down," he told her with a smile.

"Then I guess I'll get some of that," she smiled back as she placed two triangles of French toast on her plate. She topped them with some butter and berries before walking back over to their table. She thought about what Levy had suggested. Maybe she and Natsu should go to the movies with them. Lucy figured she should ask him before he started eating again.

"Hey, Natsu. Do you want to go to the movies later? Levy and Gajeel are going to see  _Ghostbusters_  and they invited us along," she told him.

"Sure, I don't see why not," he winked at her. Lucy choked on her French toast, causing Natsu's eyes to go wide with worry.

"Here, drink this and put your hands straight up," he said as he held his glass of orange juice to her lips. People were turning to look at the pair, causing Lucy's cheeks to turn even redder out of embarrassment. Finally, she was able to breath again and put her hands down in her lap.

"Where'd you learn that?" she asked him.

"Mira. Food went down the wrong hole a lot when I was younger. She used to have me do that whenever it happened," he explained sheepishly. Natsu quickly finished his food and went to go take his plates over to the kitchen to be cleaned.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later. I've got some things to do with Lisanna. She apparently wants to get a present for Bix and doesn't know what to get him, so she's dragging me with her to go shopping," he said as he smiled at her.

"Bye, Natsu," she waved. Lucy sighed as she was left to finish her breakfast.


	10. Sleeping Beauty

" _Soooo, you two dating yet?_ " Cana asked as she slid into the booth next to Lucy. Lucy inwardly groaned.

"Cana, he's literally only been here for a couple of days.  _No_ , we aren't dating. We probably won't date. We're just really good friends. We just…  _click_ ," she smiled.

"I'm sure other parts of you can ' _click_ ,' too," Cana winked. Lucy's eyes widened.

" _Did you just make a sex joke?_ " Lucy whispered.

"Yep," Cana said proudly.

"CANA, NO!" Lucy groaned.

"Cana,  _yes_!" Cana chuckled as she harshly patted Lucy on her shoulder before getting up, "Well, see you around, blondie. I've got a paper to write with Levy, and by write I mean I sit there and Levy writes it. Catch ya later."

Lucy placed her spoon back down into her bowl as she watched her friend walk away. She was done eating breakfast. She pushed out her chair as she got up to place her tray on the conveyer belt to be cleared and cleaned. She casually walked back to her dorm and flopped on her bed. She still had manga to read. With a sigh, she stood up and walked over to Natsu's dorm to find it unsurprisingly unlocked. She carefully opened it to make sure Happy didn't get out and walked over to the shelf before pulling off more volumes. She then was going to leave, but then Happy kept playing with her foot.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to stay then," she told the cat as she picked him up and plopped him down on the bed with her. She snuggled into Natsu's blanket that was strewn over his bed. It smelled exactly like him, she smiled. She settled in to read for the day, determined to finish the whole series in just one day.

"Take  _that_ , Natsu," she whispered at her unspoken challenge. With that, she prepared herself for a long day of reading.

* * *

Natsu returned to his dorm with Lisanna after their shopping trip.

"Lis, why did we have to go to  _three_  different stores, spend  _over an hour_  in each, just to come back to the first one and buy the first thing ya picked up the first time?" Natsu grumbled as he crawled up the stairs. " _We even missed lunch_!"

"Well, I needed to make sure I got Bix a perfect present," she shrugged.

"You need to trust your gut more, like I do, and right now, my gut says it's hungry. I think I'm gonna drop off my gift to Lucy in her dorm, stop by my room, and then head over to the guild hall," Natsu said.

"Alright. Maybe I'll see you over there. Thanks again, Natsu," Lisanna said before hugging him. She then turned on her heels and exited the building.

* * *

Natsu took a deep breath before knocking on Lucy's door.

"Luce? Are ya home? I know you didn't go anywhere, since you were going to read  _Fairy Tail_  today," he teased. However, no one answered the door. He shrugged and opened it anyways, walking over towards her desk. He gently placed a small glass vase on the desk. There was a bow around the rim of the vase, and inside it was a small white beta fish. He figured if he got Lucy a pet then she would stop stealing Happy, but he also knew that it had to be a pet that the RA allowed. Therefore, he got her a fish. He'd spent a long time at the store trying to find the right one. He eventually settled on the white fish with golden markings because it looked cool, and because it puffed out when he put his finger up against the vase.

* * *

"Well, I just hope she likes it," Natsu murmured as he shut the door and walked back across the hall. He then opened his door to find an unexpected sight. There, on his bed, was Lucy. She was wrapped up in his blanket with Happy snuggled against her face. She was laying in a pile of books, all of them were volumes of Fairy Tail. Only a couple still remained on the shelf.

"Aw, Luce," Natsu sighed before gently moving the books back to the shelf. He didn't want to disturb her. There was still a book in her hand though, her finger marking a page. He carefully picked it up and bookmarked it before placing it on his desk. Then, as quietly as he could, he placed some dry food into Happy's food bowl before readjusting the blanket on Lucy so that it covered her more. Afterwards, he felt pretty tired, so instead of getting food like he originally planned, he crawled into his bed with her, but due to the small nature of his dorm bed, he had to cuddle her a bit to fit. Lucy's head now rested on his chest, Happy had relocated to curling into the space between his shoulder and his cheek, and Natsu finally noticed how pretty Lucy was. Sure, he thought she was cute when he met her, but now that she was sleeping, he could see her face. Her nose crinkled a bit as her brows furrowed in her sleep. Natsu figured she must be having a nightmare since she reached out to fist his shirt. Gently, he reached out and stroked her cheek, pushing stray strands of hair behind her ear. He was content and comfortable, eventually he was able to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

 


	11. Aftermath of a Sleepover

Lucy stretched a bit as she woke up the next morning, her hand connecting with something soft. She slowly opened her eyes to find that her hand was now in pink fluffy hair. Lucy blinked. _Pink hair_? Only one person she knew had pink hair, and that was Natsu.  _Why was Natsu in her bed?_  She took in a breath and looked at the room, taking in everything. It wasn't her room! She was in Natsu's bed. Lucy sighed.  _Nice going, Lucy, you probably fell asleep while reading._  Had she been reading though? There were no books around. He must have put them away before he crawled in bed with her, she figured. What was she going to do? She couldn't slide out of the bed since she was on the side nearest the wall. Natsu was blocking her exit, and he didn't look like he was going to wake up anytime soon. Lucy sighed. Maybe she could just sleep in a bit more. She snuggled into Natsu, closing her eyes again and falling back to sleep.

* * *

Natsu woke up to see Lucy entangled in him. He smiled softly down at her before moving her hair from her face. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she looked at him.

"Mornin', book worm. How'd you sleep?" Natsu grinned as Lucy's face flushed in embarrassment.

"Pretty well. Sorry for taking up your bed," she said sheepishly.

Natsu chuckled, "It's okay. It was nice to sleep with someone who isn't Happy for once. I love him, but his tail always ends up under my nose and it tickles. Besides, you and I fit together better." Natsu then proceeded to yawn, not realizing what he had said. Lucy, however, was quickly waking up and turned even more red at his words. She sat up, careful not to take up too much space, or to accidentally hit Natsu in the process.

"Well, I better go back to my room and get ready for the day. I have some homework I need to finish for tomorrow," She told him. Natsu sat up, sliding over to let her pass by.

"Do you want to get breakfast together first?" Natsu asked, "It's only nine. They probably just started serving oatmeal."

"Yeah, sure. Let me just take my shower and get dressed," Lucy smiled.

"Don't forget to lock the door this time," Natsu teased.

"Don't barge in on me this time," Lucy shot back.

"Fair enough," he smirked as he laid back down to look up at the ceiling. Lucy smiled softly as she peeked out into the hall. Satisfied that no one was watching, she walked into the hall and crossed to her room. She was almost safely in her dorm when a voice called out.

"That's the second time you and Flame Brain have had a sleep over. Are you  _sure_  you aren't dating?" Gray smirked.

"I was reading in his room yesterday and I fell asleep on his bed. He was kind enough not to wake me, unlike some other people in this cluster who decided to stick their cold hands up the back of my shirt when I fell asleep studying with them," She countered, referring to the time that she and Gray had studied for their midterm together. She had fallen asleep around 2 am and instead of waking her up like a normal person, he stuck his ice-cold hands up her shirt and put them on her back.

"Hey, you know what they say about cold hands," he winked.

"Yeah, yeah. ' _Cold hands, warm heart_ ,'" she teased, "I've yet to see evidence of the latter."

"Oh, Lucy, you wound me!" Gray joked.

"I'm sure Juvia could patch up your wounds," she said as she walked into her room.

"WE AREN'T DATING!" Gray yelled after her. Lucy just laughed.

* * *

She grabbed her shower supplies and her clothes. It was fairly cold out, so she was planning on rocking a pair of jeans and a sweater today. She proceeded to get showered and dressed before returning to her room. She figured she'd start some homework while she waiting for Natsu to get ready. She had a short story to write for her creative writing class. She figured that she'd start a story about a group of friends who all had special powers. She just didn't know what to call it yet. She wanted it to be based off her life, though. She wrote about a girl who could conjure celestial spirits with keys and how she met a pink haired boy with fire magic who turned her life upside down. She finished what she was going to call chapter one for the purpose of her homework and saved it. She was glad to finally have an idea of what to write for her final project. They all had to write a complete work. She could submit this book for that. She just hoped that her Professor Mavis would like it. A series of knocking made Lucy pull her attention away from her keyboard.

"Be right there!" She called out before closing her laptop and placing it on her desk. She walked over to her door and swung it open to reveal Natsu in a t-shirt and pants.

"Natsu, it's 40 degrees out, you're going to be cold. Go put on real clothes," she deadpanned.

" _I won't be cold_ ," he protested.

"Yes, you will, and I don't want to hear you complain about it," she sighed as she pushed passed him and walked towards his door. She carefully opened it to make sure Happy stayed inside, grabbed the first sweatshirt she saw hanging off the back of his chair, and threw it at him before rejoining him in the hallway.

"Luce, this is so unnecessary," he whined as he tugged the sweatshirt on.

"Natsu, I don't need you getting sick," she replied as she began walking.

"Would you take care of me if I did?" he asked innocently.

"Nope, because I'd know it was your fault that you got sick. If you're going to be an idiot, then you'll just have to take care of yourself."

"Aw, Luce…" Natsu pouted.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast. I could really use a bowl of oatmeal with add-ins," she replied. Natsu immediately perked up and fell in-step with her.

"Add-ins?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Yeah. I think they're supposed to go with the yogurt bar, but I like adding it to my oatmeal," she explained.

"What do you add in?"

"I usually add in brown sugar, chocolate chips, and coconut shavings. Oh! I also put pineapple on top of my oatmeal," she smirked. It was probably her favorite breakfast at school.

" _You're so weird, Luce_ ," Natsu said as he shook his head at her answer.

" _Oh yeah?_  Well what would  _you_  add to it?" She countered.

Natsu smirked at her before responding, " _Everything._ "

Now it was Lucy's turn to shake her head at her friend's endless appetite. Of course Natsu would add everything to his oatmeal. He'd probably do that with everything else, too. They walked up the steps to the dining hall and swiped in before heading towards the oatmeal bar.

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

Lucy couldn't believe her eyes as she watched Natsu make good on his idea to put everything into his oatmeal. She knew that some of those had to not taste good together. I mean, you couldn't possibly like raisins with coconut and pineapple, but here Natsu was eating it all without a hint of disgust on his face. Lucy looked back down at her simpler concoction in her bowl. At least she knew it tasted good. With a slight smile she spooned some of it into her mouth. There was nothing like hot oatmeal on a cold morning to warm you up. She sighed slightly as she continued to eat her oatmeal.

"So, Luce, what were you working on when I knocked on your door?" Natsu asked in between bites.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked.

"I heard you clacking away at your keyboard. What were you writing?"

"Oh! I have to write a story for Professor Mavis' class."

"What's it about?"

"Well… wizards," she shrugged.

"Like Harry Potter?"

"No, more like… mages. They each have very different magic. For example, one uses keys to summon celestial spirits to help her fight. Another has the power of ice, and another can use fire…" she trailed off.

"Well, that sounds really cool," he told her as he finished his oatmeal, "You should let me read it when you're done. I'm sure it'll be great. I'm going to go bring this up to the conveyer belt and grab an apple."

"Thanks, Natsu, that means a lot," Lucy replied. She didn't tell him that she'd rather die than let him read her writing. She wasn't ready for anyone to really read her writing, but she knew that Professor Mavis would have to eventually since it was for class. Lucy just wasn't that confident in the fact that she was a good writer. She knew she loved to write, but she didn't think she was any good at it. The one time a short story of hers got published, it was because she submitted it on a whim. She figured they only published it because they needed material and so they published everything that was sent in. She would just have to find a way to make sure Natsu forgot about her story. If he forgot then he'd never ask to read it and she wouldn't have to deal with embarrassment of him knowing that she wasn't a great writer. She wouldn't have to tell him that she had decided to write an entire story based on them. She could almost see that not ending well. She sighed as she finished her oatmeal. It was now slightly cold since she had forgotten about it, but nevertheless she finished it all and brought her bowl up to the dish return. She placed it on the belt before returning to collect her things. She saw Natsu waiting for her by the entrance to the cafeteria and walked over to him.

"So, Luce, what are you up to for the day?" Natsu asked as they walked out of the building.

"I need to finish up some homework for my classes. Then I'll probably go into town with Levy. We decided to go book shopping," Lucy replied as she tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Sounds…fun?" Natsu said. He wasn't really one to read, but he respected the fact that Lucy was.

"I'm looking forward to it," Lucy shrugged. "What about you, Natsu? What are you doing today?"

"Ice Princess and I are working on homework for our English class."

"You two purposely teamed up to do homework?" Lucy asked incredulously.

"Hell no. The teacher assigned the pairings. If I had my choice, I would've picked…anyone else other than that popsicle," Natsu sighed.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad," Lucy replied with an eye-roll.

"Debatable," Natsu replied as they reached their dorms, "Well, good luck with your homework. Have fun with Levy. I'll catch ya later for dinner?"

"Of course. Good luck with Gray," Lucy smirked as she walked into her room.


	13. Chapter 13

Lucy made it back to her dorm and plopped down in front of her computer. She resumed typing up her story. This time, it was an adventure where Haru and Elie were trying to destroy a book, but instead they stole it and found it to be a secret story meant for the author's son. Lucy sighed. She wished her dad would do something like that, but he clearly didn't care about her that much. She hadn't talked to her dad since she got back from Christmas break. That had been three months ago. It wasn't Lucy's fault, really. Her father hadn't tried to talk to her either. Lucy saved her story and then decided to make her bed. After that, she pulled on her shoes and checked her phone. She and Levy were supposed to go to the bookstore in a couple of minutes. She grabbed her purse and headed over to Levy's room before knocking.

"Is that my best friend? Or is that the girl who skipped out on our movie date?" Levy yelled at the door.

Lucy hung her head in shame. She totally forgot she was supposed to go see a movie with Levy and Gajeel last night. "In my defense, Natsu forgot, too," Lucy countered.

"I'm pretty sure any guy would forget about the movies if he found a pretty girl asleep in his bed," Levy teased as she opened the door.

"Gray told you?" Lucy sighed.

"You know how bad Fairy Tail is at keeping secrets," Levy smirked as she closed the door and headed towards the stairs. "So what _were_ you doing in Natsu's room anyway?"

"Reading. I made a bet with him that I could finish an entire manga series in a week."

"Let me guess, you decided to be an overachiever and finish it in one day?"

"Yes…" Lucy said as she sheepishly scratched her neck.

"How'd that work out for you?" Levy asked.

"I think I have ten left, and I fell asleep during the process," Lucy explained as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"That's still really good. So, what kind of books are you looking for?" Levy inquired as she opened the front door for them. They were hit with a wave of cold air as they walked out into the courtyard in front of their dormitory.

"Probably a new romance novel. I haven't read one of those in a while. What about you?" Lucy asked.

"I'm hoping to pick up the new novelization of the Rogue One movie. Apparently RebelCaptain is more obvious in the novel. I'm hoping for that, because honestly who didn't want them to live happily ever after?" Levy ranted. She had been really annoyed by the ending of that movie, so much so that she even wrote fanfiction remedying it.

"If you do end up finding that, do you mind if I read it when you're done? I ship them, too," Lucy smiled. She and Levy had gone to see Rogue One for a girl's night last semester. They had a lot of disagreement between the two of them over which actor was more attractive. Lucy definitely fell in love with Diego Luna's Cassian Andor. However, Levy was a staunch lover of Riz Ahmed's Bodhi. It sparked various fangirl arguments over which one was better, but eventually they agreed to disagree and decided that RebelCaptain was one of their OTPs.

"You bet, Lu-chan," Levy said as she elbowed Lucy. They paused as they reached their beloved bookstore. They turned to look at each other, large smiles growing on their faces before rushing into the hole-in-the-wall shop.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on campus, Natsu and Gray were trying to work on their homework in the library.

"Listen, Hot ass, we are NOT using fire in our English presentation on Romeo and Juliet," Gray warned.

"Why not? It was a red hot romance, Ice Princess," Natsu shrugged.

"I'm not going to fail just because I got stuck with you as a partner," Gray grumbled.

"You think I want to work with you? Believe me, I don't," Natsu replied.

"I'd rather work with Juvia than you."

"Well, I'm sure she wouldn't mind you stripping every five seconds!" Natsu yelled as he gestured to Gray's hands which were unbuttoning his shirt.

"Damn it!" Gray replied before hurrying to button up his shirt.

"I know you two aren't arguing in a library," a voice warned from behind them. Natsu and Gray froze before running to hug each other.

"Of course not, Erza," they replied.

"Good," she replied before returning back to the shelves. The boys let out a sigh of relief before looking at each other. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Levy and Lucy were unleashed in the bookstore. Levy was scouring the science fiction section for her Star Wars novel, and Lucy was sitting on the floor in front of the romance section. She didn't know what she wanted to read. There were so many subgroups of romance. There's historical romance, supernatural romance, crime romance… it was all so overwhelming. She was about to stand up when she noticed a colorful book in the corner. She gently reached for the book and pulled it off the shelf.

"Zodiac," she read aloud, "I think I'll pick this one." She smiled and stood up before going to find Levy.

"Lu-channnn," Levy whined, "I can't reach the book." Levy flailed on her tip-toes as she tried to reach the book. Lucy just chuckled before reaching over and plucking the book off the shelf and giving it to her best friend.

"Thank you," Levy mumbled as she took the book and they headed over to the cash register. They paid for their books and started to walk towards campus. It was a successful trip.

* * *

Gray and Natsu were slowly getting through their presentation.

"Alright, so we have two slides left. What should we put on them?" Gray asked his partner.

"What about theme on one and symbolism on the other?" Natsu suggested.

"That's… actually a good idea," Gray replied.

"I write comics in my spare time, of course I know about literature having higher meaning," Natsu shot back.

The boys worked at their presentation and finished it just as Lucy walked over to them.

"Well, boys, how's the project going?" Lucy asked.

"We just finished it," Gray responded.

"And the library is still standing? I'm proud of you," Lucy smirked. Natsu then noticed the bag swinging by Lucy's leg.

"What's in the bag, Luce?" he asked her.

"I brought you guys some dinner since I didn't know when you'd be done. I hope you guys don't mind Chinese food," she said as she placed the bag on the table and began unpacking it.

"Thanks! Do you think we could do our presentation for you before we eat?" Gray asked as Natsu was two seconds from shoving an eggroll in his mouth. He sighed before placing it back in the bag and preparing to give his presentation to Lucy.

Gray and Natsu worked through their presentation and got the stamp of approval from Lucy.

"Finally, I'm starving!" Natsu said as he plopped down and pulled out the eggroll once more. Lucy smirked and used her chopsticks to eat her lo mein.

"So, Lucy, how come you never brought me food before when I was working in the library?" Gray asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm usually broke, Gray, and today I was feeling generous," she shrugged.

"Don't question her or she might not do it again," Natsu teased.

"I doubt that," Gray smirked as they all fell into silence and ate their food.

* * *


	14. Chapter 14

Natsu and Lucy were walking back to their dorms after having split off from Gray.

"So, how far did ya end up getting in Fairy Tail last night?" Natsu asked as he looked down at Lucy.

"I think I have about ten volumes left," she replied before shivering. She thought her sweater would have kept her warm enough, but the sun had gone down by the time they left and it was getting cold. Natsu sighed before unzipping his sweatshirt that she had made him put on that morning and gently laid it over her shoulders. It was so warm from his body heat, causing Lucy to snuggle into it as she wrapped it around herself.

"I bookmarked the volume you left off on and placed it on my desk so you could find it. Didn't want to hinder your reading," Natsu teased.

"Thanks. I'll probably read some more tomorrow in between my classes. I have an hour between my astronomy class and my English class. I usually use that time for a nap, but I think I'll use it to read tomorrow. Are you finished with your homework for the night?" She asked as they reached the stairs to the dormitory.

"Just some math problems, but they're all logic problems so it's fine. I used to be really into those as a kid," Natsu admitted.

"Really? Why?" Lucy asked with a small smile. She could almost picture a younger Natsu working furiously at a logic problem until he got it right.

"Gray stumped me with one this one time and I vowed to never let him beat me at them again, so I did a lot of them until I was the best," he smirked as he held the door open for her.

"Thank you," Lucy replied as she walked through the doorway.

"You're welcome, _m'lady_ ," he teased.

"Don't call me that."

They made their way to their cluster's hallway before standing in front of their respective doors.

"Well, good night, Luce," Natsu said.

"Night," Lucy replied before turning towards her door as she was about to open it, Natsu called out to her.

"Wait! I just realized I don't have your number," Natsu replied.

Lucy turned to face him and he held out his phone to her. Lucy took his phone, entered her information and gave it back to him. Natsu looked down at his phone before half of his mouth quirked up into a slight smile. "You put a star next to your name?"

"I was the head of an astronomy club in high school, and ran the astrology page on the school's website. Stars are sort of a hobby for me," she explained.

"Cool… well, night, Luce," Natsu replied as he headed into his dorm room.

Lucy walked into her dorm and closed the door. She plugged her phone into her charger and laid it on her desk. After changing into her pajamas, she crawled into bed and shut the light off. Right as she was on the verge of falling asleep, she heard a soft vibrating sound as her phone notified her that she had gotten a text. She sighed as she turned over to pick up her phone, unlocking it to see a text message from a new number.

"Luce, do you want to get breakfast together tomorrow?"

Lucy smiled as she saved the number as Natsu's in her phone before replying, "I'd love to. I hope you don't mind if Levy joins us. We always get breakfast together on Tuesdays."

A few seconds later, her phone lit up again, "Sure, no prob!"

Lucy turned back over and let herself succumb to the call of sleep.

* * *

Lucy stretched the next morning after shutting her alarm off. She went about her morning routine before swinging her bag over her shoulder and waiting for her friends in the hallway. Levy was the first to appear and they started talking while they waited for Natsu.

"So, Lu-chan, are you excited for the anime con in three weeks?" Levy asked.

"YES! Have you figured out your cosplay outfit yet?" Lucy asked.

"I was thinking of dressing up as Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service. I'm not dead set, though. What about you?" Levy asked.

"I was thinking of dressing up as Sailor Moon," she replied. Just as she said that, Natsu walked out of his dorm.

"What are ya dressin' up for?" He asked.

"Lucy and I are going to an anime con in a couple of weeks," Levy explained.

"I wanna go! Lucy and I could dress up together," Natsu suggested.

"What would you dress up as?" Levy asked as they began walking towards the dining hall.

"Maybe we could go as Haru and Elie from Fairy Tail," Natsu suggested.

"People might think we're dating if we do that, though," Lucy interjected.

"Well, you have three weeks to think about it," Levy pointed out as they entered the dining hall. The three split off and got their prospective breakfasts before joining back up at the table. However, they gained another member.

"Ayyy, Salamander, long time no see," Gajeel commented as he sat down next to Levy.

"Morning, Gajeel, didn't think you would be having breakfast with us," Lucy told him, "We were just discussing our cosplay plans."

"Cosplay?" Gajeel asked in confusion.

"Ya dress up as characters when it's not Halloween and go to conventions," Natsu explained.

"Sounds nerdy. Are you into this, Shrimp?" Gajeel asked as he looked over at Levy.

"Yeah… I don't know for sure who I'm going to cosplay as, though," Levy sighed.

"Isn't it obvious? You're a bookworm. Go as Belle. I'll even dress up as your beast," Gajeel shrugged. Secretly, he just wanted a reason to swing Levy around in his arms.

"Really? You'd do that?" Levy asked excitedly.

"Sure."

"Lu-chan, you and Natsu _have_ to go as Haru and Elie now. If we're doing a couple cosplay then you two should, too," Levy declared.

Lucy groaned, "Fine. Now, I have to go or I'll be late to class."

Lucy dropped her plate off at the dish station and proceeded to her class. She had no idea why she just agreed to that, but even stranger to her, she didn't regret it.

* * *


	15. Chapter 15

Lucy sighed. She normally loved her astronomy class, but her professor was very on-edge today. Usually Dr. Aquarius wasn't as loud or angry, but today she was all that and more. She had picked on Lucy for every answer, and for the times Lucy _did_ volunteer to answer, she'd ask her a barrage of follow-up questions. Finally, class had ended and her classmates were rushing to leave.

"That's right! Just rush to leave! _Everyone always leaves_ …" her professor muttered under her breath. Lucy was almost out the door when her inner moral compass stopped her.

"I'm going to regret this…" Lucy murmured before turning around and heading to the front of the room. "Professor, are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay! And I don't need brats like you poking into my personal life," Dr. Aquarius shot back.

"Well, I don't think any of us appreciate you taking out your personal life, _however private it may be_ , on us, so that's why I'm asking," Lucy told her.

Dr. Aquarius sighed, "Do you have a class after this?"

"I'm free for the next hour," Lucy shrugged. _There goes my reading time_ , she thought. Her professor went over to the door and shut it before coming back to sit, gesturing at the seat across from her. Lucy dropped her bag down on the floor and sat. "So what's up?"

"My boyfriend has to go away for a bit for his job. I'm really upset about it," Aquarius sighed.

"Well it can't be _that_ bad," Lucy replied, "It's not like he's going to never come back."

"WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?" Aquarius fumed, "OF COURSE HE'S COMING BACK."

Lucy blinked. She'd have to be more careful with her word choice. "I meant, I'm sure you're worrying over nothing."

"Oh, what do you know, _you're single,_ " Aquarius replied with a wave of her hand. "I'll be fine. I appreciate your concern to some extent," she sniffed, "But I've got to go. I have a skype date with my boyfriend in ten minutes and I have to make sure that I look my best, not that _you_ would know what that's like."

Lucy sat there feeling fairly offended as her teacher sauntered out of the room.

"Well that's the last time I ask her how she's feeling," Lucy grumbled as she picked up her bag. She slung it over her shoulder before looking up at the clock. She had 30 minutes left before her next class. At this point it wasn't worth the trek back to her dorm to read when she'd have to turn around and come right back. Lucy decided it would be better if she just sat in the café in the building and worked on her short story before heading to class.

* * *

Lucy's typing was interrupted mid-sentence by a person sitting down next to her.

"Oh hey, Mira, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked as she finished her sentence and saved her story before shutting her laptop.

"I've got some time to kill before my biology lab, I saw you sitting by yourself and thought I'd sit with you for a bit, if that's okay," Mira smiled.

"It's totally cool. What are you doing in your lab?"

"We're trying to see if we can genetically mutate a frog embryo to have the head of a pig," Mira smirked, "but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? What did you want to talk to me about?" Lucy asked with a tilt of her head.

"I've noticed you were spending more time with Natsu… What do you think of him?"

"I think he's a cool person. He's become a really fast friend of mine, and I'm glad to have met him. Why?"

"Just wondering," Mira winked before going to get up, "Well, I better get going. See you around."

"See ya," Lucy replied before checking the time, "Shoot, I better get to my class, too."

Lucy shoved her laptop into her bag before slinging it over her shoulder. She quickly scurried up the stairs towards her next class, plopping down in her usual seat in the front row. She unpacked her bag and mentally prepared herself for class. English was always her favorite, so she knew that it was going to be a good class today.

* * *

Natsu was sitting in his chemistry lab, looking out the window when he noticed a familiar head of blonde hair sitting in the classroom across the courtyard from the lab. Natsu rolled his eyes at the fact that she seemed to be clacking away at her keyboard. He turned back to the front of the room. Today's lesson was on chemical reactions to cause combustion, something Natsu was very familiar with. Natsu sighed, continuing to jot down his notes. He just wanted to get out of class so he could ask Lucy to get lunch with him. This was going to be a long class.

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

Lucy finished typing up the line of her story as her professor finished writing the prompt for their short homework assignment on the board. She took a picture of the prompt with her phone before adding her homework to the sticky note on her laptop. She liked to keep all her homework for the week on the sticky note so she could cross it off as she finished it. She could also map out what homework she would do on what day. It was her way of keeping organized and making things manageable. Otherwise, she'd forget to do something and then get swamped with homework. That had happened to her one too many times last semester, so this semester she implemented a change. After saving the changes to the sticky note on her laptop, she closed it and slid it back into her bag. She was halfway out the door when something barreled into her, making her drop her bag as she collided with the doorway.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed as she rubbed her arm where it had been jettisoned into the wall. She looked up to see what had knocked into her and sighed. "Natsu, what the hell were you thinking?"

"Well, Luce, I was thinking we could get lunch if you didn't have another class," Natsu said, not even missing a beat. He picked up her bag and swung it over his shoulder and began to walk.

"I can't go to the dining hall. I have a class in forty minutes and it's a fifteen-minute walk there and back. That would give me ten minutes to find something decent and eat it," she calculated.

"Well, maybe we could just eat here? Isn't there a café downstairs?" Natsu offered.

"You must really want to eat lunch with me, huh?" Lucy teased.

"Nah, not really. I just don't wanna to eat alone. Or with Ice Princess. He's been obsessin' over the winter Olympics and I really don't think I can sit through a conversation about those skaters from Canada for another meal," Natsu replied while making a face.

" _DON'T YOU DARE SAY SOMETHING NEGATIVE ABOUT THAT POWER COUPLE!_ I swear, I don't believe that they're not dating, though," Lucy said.

"Luce, back to _important_ things. Lunch?"

"Fine, we can eat downstairs. They have a pretty decent sandwich selection. It's just not on the meal plan so you'll actually have to pay for it instead of using swipes," she explained as they walked down the stairs.

* * *

After waiting in line, they finally sat down at an empty table with their sandwiches. Lucy pulled out her laptop to work while she ate. Natsu had inhaled his sandwich in about the time it took Lucy to pull out her laptop and turn it on.

"So, what class do ya have next?" Natsu asked.

"Philosophy," she responded as she paused her clacking away at her keys to take a bite of her sandwich.

"Is that a hard class?" Natsu asked, "I can't imagine it would be very entertaining since you're just talkin' about what a bunch of dead guys thought about life."

"Aren't most classes just talking about what a bunch of dead people thought about life?" Lucy responded.

"Woah. That's deep. _And_ philosophical," Natsu said with widening eyes, "you must get A's in that class."

"I try to get A's in every class."

" _Overachiever_."

" _Underachiever_."

"I'm not an underachiever! Not yet anyways. I haven't even been here long enough to underachieve. Besides, I take school seriously. I just don't always have stuff done on time because more fun stuff pops up," he deflected.

"Yeah, okay. Whatever you have to tell yourself to stomach your grades," Lucy teased. She punctuated her statement by taking a giant bite of sandwich.

"Well, I'm done for the day. I think I'll head back and do homework with Happy after walkin' ya to class," Natsu said as he leaned back in his chair to stretch.

"You don't have to walk me to class."

"But I want to."

"People will get the wrong idea."

"And what idea is that?"

"That we're dating."

" _Ew_. Why would they think that?"

"Because we're always together!"

"So? We're friends! That's what friends do," he shrugged, "but if you don't want me to walk to class with ya, just say so." Natsu got up to throw his plate away.

"See ya back at the dorms, Luce," he called out before walking towards the exit.

Lucy sighed. She didn't know what she was going to do with that boy.


End file.
